Garden Tub to Walk In Shower: What the Conversion Costs and How It Works

By Zach Wennstedt, owner of Aging Safely Baths. Installing walk in tubs and roll in showers since 2012. Updated October 2026.

The garden tub was the status symbol of 1990s and 2000s master bathrooms: a big oval soaker set into a tiled deck, usually next to a cramped stand-up shower nobody loved. Twenty-five years later, it is the most-replaced fixture we see. The deck is 18 to 22 inches high, the tub is deep, the step over the rim is awkward wet, and most owners tell us they have not filled it in years. Here is what replacing a garden tub with a walk in shower, a walk in tub, or a tub-and-shower combination actually involves, what it costs, and how to decide.

Why garden tubs become a problem

• The deck. Stepping onto a tiled platform, then over a tub rim, then down into a deep basin is three balance moves on a wet surface. The CDC's bathroom injury study found that more than a third of bathroom injuries happen getting in or out of the tub or shower. A garden tub multiplies that moment.
• The depth. Garden tubs are 20 to 24 inches deep. Sitting down and standing up from the bottom is a deep squat most people over 70 cannot do safely.
• The water. Filling 60 to 80 gallons takes a long time and drains most residential water heaters, which is why the tub stops being used.
• The space it wastes. A 6 x 7 foot deck taken up by a tub used twice a year, next to a 36 x 36 shower that gets used daily. The conversion gives that floor space back.

Your three options, compared

These ranges are higher than our standard $15,000 to under $20,000 alcove projects for one reason: the deck. Removing a tiled platform, capping the old rough-in, patching the subfloor and framing a new wall line is more demolition and carpentry than pulling a tub out of a three-wall alcove. We itemize that work so you can see exactly what the deck costs you.

What the conversion involves, step by step

1. Demolition. Tile deck, tub, apron framing and any surround come out. Expect a dumpster for a tiled deck.
2. Plumbing. The old deck-mount faucet and drain are capped; a new drain and valve are roughed in where the shower or tub needs them. On a slab, this is where a trench may be cut; on a crawlspace or basement, it is done from below.
3. Framing. A roll in shower pan needs a level, solid subfloor and a framed wall line; a walk in tub needs the floor checked for the tub's filled weight.
4. Set the pan or tub. The pan is set in a mortar bed dead level so the floor drains; a tub is leveled on its feet.
5. Walls. Wet-area wall panels or a one-piece surround go up; tile is quoted separately if you want it.
6. Test and finish. Fill and drain test, trim, caulk, and a walkthrough with the bather.

Design choices that make it look like a master bath, not a hospital

• Full-height wall panels in a stone or subway look, with the seat and grab bars in matching chrome or brushed nickel.
• A trench drain along the entry instead of a center drain, which lets the floor stay flat and modern.
• A frameless half-panel of glass on the dry side with a weighted curtain on the entry side, so there is no swinging door to block a chair.
• A rainfall head plus a handheld wand on a slide bar: the wand is the accessibility piece; the rain head is the one guests notice.
• Recessed niches at seated height so the bather can reach shampoo without standing.

If someone still wants to soak

A garden tub's deck is usually 60 to 72 inches long, which fits a full-size walk in tub such as the Hydro Dimensions 3060 or Ella Ultimate with room to spare, or a two-seat tub for couples. The tub sits on the floor, not on a platform, so the step is 3 to 7 inches instead of 18 plus the rim. Add a heated seat and the fast dual drains and it gets used daily, which the garden tub never was. If one of you soaks and the other showers, the tub shower combo with full-height walls solves it in the same footprint.

Questions we ask before quoting a garden tub conversion

• Is the house on a slab, crawlspace or basement? (Decides how the drain moves.)
• What is the deck size, and is the tub a drop-in or an alcove tub with a tile apron?
• Where is the existing drain and faucet relative to where the shower needs them?
• Does anyone in the house use a wheelchair or walker now, or expect to?
• Do you want tile walls or a sealed panel system?
• Is there a window in the tub area? (It usually needs a waterproof surround or relocation.)

Send photos of the tub, the deck, the faucet and the floor around it through our virtual estimate and we will quote the conversion in writing, itemized, with no home visit.

Three real garden tub conversions, and what they cost

Houston, slab home, 1998 master bath. A 6 x 6 tiled deck with a drop-in oval tub and a 36 x 36 stall beside it. We removed both, cut a trench for the new drain, and installed a 60 x 36 one-piece roll in shower with a trench drain, fold-up seat and a frameless half panel. Two days, $17,900 itemized, mostly because of the concrete cut and the extra wall. The owner uses a walker; the shower is now the only one in the house she uses.

Denver, 1980s split-level, crawlspace. Same deck layout, but the drain moved from below in an hour. A 60 x 30 roll in shower with a weighted curtain and a slide-bar wand. One day, $14,600. The old stall became a linen closet.

Phoenix, 2004 tract home, couple in their seventies. He showers, she soaks for arthritis. We replaced the deck with a walk in tub shower combo: a Hydro Dimensions tub with full-height walls and an overhead rain head. One day, $19,400 with the heated seat and six water jets. Both use it daily.

Does it pay back when you sell?

It depends on the market, but the trend is clear. Most home-buyer and remodeler surveys of the last few years report that buyers of all ages rank a large walk in shower above a soaking tub in the primary bath, and the share of buyers over 55 keeps growing. A roll in shower that looks like a spa is a selling point; a tiled deck with a dusty oval tub is a renovation the next owner budgets for. If you plan to sell within five years, choose the panel system in a stone look and a frameless half panel, and keep a tub somewhere else in the house if you have one.

Timeline from first call to first shower

1. Day 0: photos and measurements through the virtual estimate; written itemized quote the same day.
2. Days 1 to 10: you pick the pan size, wall look, seat side and accessories; we order. Bestbath pans ship in about a week; one-piece units a little longer.
3. Install day: demolition at 7:30, pan set by early afternoon, walls and finish, test, walkthrough by late afternoon. Tile walls or a slab drain cut push the finish to day two.
4. After: caulk cures overnight; first shower the next morning.